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Naval Fighters

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The book covers the F6Fs development, testing, and production written by Grumman's test pilot "Corky" Meyer. This is followed by technical details and a running combat narrative. The Marines, British, French, and European action is all covered as well as training command during and after WWII and sections on post war, reserve, drones, and Hellcat prey.

The F2H-3/4 Banshee ("Big Banjo") was a direct outgrowth of the F2H-1 and F2H-2 series of Korean war fighter and recon jets which became the US Navy's first single seat all-weather carrier interceptor. This book also includes a chapter on Royal Canadian F2H-3s.

128 pages, 280 b/w photos, diagrams and technical manual illustrations. Concise visual history of Curtiss-Wright's classic 1930s through WWII single-engined scout observation biplane. The Seagull was significant for incorporating full-span automatic wing slots in combination with hand operated upper wing flaps which combined to give improved performance need for shipboard operations. SOCs could be configured with floats or wheeled undercarriages and was capable and versatile - so much so that it replaced the failed SO3C Seamew that had been produced to supersede the OS2U Kingfisher that had previously supplanted the SOC in frontline service! Includes developmental and unit service histories, 2 pages of modeler's references.

The Lockheed R6V Constitution was a large, propeller-driven, double-decker transport aircraft developed in the 1940s by Lockheed as a long-range, high capacity transport and airliner for the U.S. Navy.

The first converted TA-7C flew for the first time on December 17, 1976, and was delivered to the Navy on January 31, 1977. This book includes US Air National Guard A-7K Greek TA-7Hs, Portugese TA-7Ps, and Thai TA-7Es.

Curtiss Model 98 XBTC-2 was designed for a request for a single seat dive/torpedo bomber in 1942. The -2 was first flown on January 20 1945, and all work on the -1 was terminated after 1943. The crash of the first prototype in February 1947, and the second in August 1947, ended the development.

This book attempts to delineate the history of the Martin P4M Mercator. It is not by any means a complete narrative, due to the secret nature of the Mercator's career and its importance to the Cold War. Through mishaps and shoot-downs, the nineteen ship production run flew clandestine electronic intelligence missions against China, North Korea, Russia, and Vietnam until 1960. Many of the documents, drawings and photos used in this book were declassified for this publication as late as 6-17-96. Even so, I trust that all that acquires this book will thrill at the beauty and gracefulness of the big Martin.

The Bell Model 61 was the only Bell helicopter using the tandem-rotor layout; it was powered by a 2400 hp Pratt & Whitney R-2800-50 engine and was intended to carry air-to-surface missiles such as the Fairchild Petrel as well as dipping ASDIC.

The last version of the Skyhawk series to be built, the A-4M Skyhawk II, was obviously the most capable. While the original Skyhawks were designed as a lightweight delivery platform for nuclear weapons, the "Mighty Mikes" were refined into the ultimate close air support weapon to protect the "Mud Marines."

Lockheed had an early lock on military jet trainer production in the United States with its very successful two-seat derivative of the P-80/F-80 Shooting Star, the T-33A/TV-2. As good as the T-Bird was, Lockheed believed a much more capable trainer could be developed from the basic T-33 design.

Another child of the "fabulous fifties" was the big-bad A3D Skywarrior, affectionately know as "Whale" or "Killer Whale". It was not the most glamorous, but became arguably the most utilitarian carrier-based aircraft to come out of the 50's. With Hughes Aircraft's current stables of twelve whales, it will certainly outlive the few QF-4 drones still flying. As a test aircraft, size and speed as well as ease of maintenance have kept the Skywarrior in demand.

This compendium has been written and documented by the principal Grumman and Blue Angel actors who participated in the development of those fine aircraft that came upon the scene at a very difficult, but interesting, era for both Grumman and the Navy.

On 20 December 1944, the industry was asked to enter a design competition for a 105,000 pound patrol boat powered by four Pratt & Whitney R-2800 radials. In January 1945, the proposal was amended to include anti-shipping, anti-submarine, and air-search and rescue. Ultimately, the project was cancelled when the submitted designs were deemed marginally superior to existing aircraft. The concept was resurrected on 27 December 1945 in the form of a 165,000 pound flying boat with improved hull design and four turboprop engines to significantly improve performance.

The Skyrocket story was originally published in the American Aviation Historical Society (AAHS) Journal in 1989.

All of the comic book reading public during the 1940's followed the adventures of "Blackhawk" and his mighty men as they conquered the world of evil. Those of us with a mindbent toward things aeronautical knew that it was not "Superman" or "Batman" who held the keys to a crime-free society, bring on "Blackhawk." Dressed in daring dark uniforms, the dashing figures of this 1940's version of the "A-Team" were mounted on the very latest of aircraft. Through the paint brush the artist portrayed an entire squadron of snub-nosed twin engine fighters which those of us old enough to remember know that only a single actual aircraft existed for the artist to illustrate, the Grumman XF5F-1 Skyrocket.

It was no secret to the U.S. Navy that jet and rocket aircraft were being developed in Europe, and that once fully developed, would be of superior performance than piston engine aircraft. Because of these facts, the Navy initiated investigations into alternative solutions to counter these new jets.

This book covers the development, testing, and squadron histories of the 33-Navy units and 13-Marine units that flew the North American FJ-4/4B Fury. The original FJ-4 was given exclusively to the Marines and the Bullpup capable FJ-4B "Fury Bravo" was used by the Navy as a ground attack aircraft. Many attack pilots thought it was a better attack platform then the A4D/A-4 Skyhawk that replaced it, but the higher cost of the Fury sealed its fate. Pilots nicknamed it the "Cadillac" whereas the A-4s two most popular nicknames were "Tinker Toy" and Scooter". 260 b&w photos and 24-illustrations.

In 1947, both the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy sponsored VTOL design studies called project Hummingbird. The rapid development of increasingly powerful powerplants had reached the point where a true VTOL aircraft was in the realm of possibility. The U.S. Navy's firsthand experiences with Japan's Kamikaze taught them the vulnerability of their great mobile peacekeepers, the carrier. Because of this experience the Navy felt that the only way to protect any naval presence in enemy waters was to equip all ships with a VTOL fighter.

In 1953, the mainstay of carrier-based anti-submarine warfare (ASW) forces in the Navy were represented by a pair of Grumman AF-2W and AF-2S Guardians flying as a hunter-killer team and operating from an escort carrier of the Commencement Bay(CVE-105) class.

The photos in this edition are black and white. First published in 1990, this book is a squadron-by-squadron history of the "Last Gunfighter", Vought's F-8 Crusader. It covers the 69 Navy units that flew the "MiG Master" including squadron patches with additional pages on operating the Crusader in Vietnam. During the Vietnam War, F-8 squadrons deployed 59 times from carrier decks off Vietnam and were responsible for downing 16 MiG-17s, two MiG-21s, plus two probable MiG-17s. This is an excellent account of a true warrior. "When your out of F-8's your out of fighters." Over 600 photos.

The photos in this edition are black and white. First published in 1987, the T-2 Buckeye book covers the development of this all-purpose jet trainer from the Navy's solicitation to industry in 1956 through its operations and squadron usage with the US Navy, Marines, Venezuela and Greece. It was originally built as a single engine jet, the T2J-1/T-2A, but had inadequate power. A second engine was added and it became the over-powered T-2B. It was a tremendously over-designed and robust aircraft, perfect for students and virtually impervious to excess Gs. Late in life it was used as a spin trainer for fleet Tomcat pilots. 137 photos and 33 illustrations.

The photos in this edition are black and white. First published in 1986, the book covers the tailless bat-winged Douglas F4D Skyray, which had such an incredible rate of climb that it gained a secondary mission as part of the USAF Air Defense Command in California and Florida. Known as the Ford by Navy pilots it had a protracted development period due to the failure of its first engine the J-40. In spite of these teething problems before receiving the J-57 it would use in the fleet, the Skyray set two world speed records for the 3km and 100km courses as well as several time-to-climb records. The fighter served with distinction with 25 Navy units, 8 Marine units and NACA/NASA. The radar equipped and missile armed interceptor was retired from active service in 1964. 418 photo, 52 illustrations and extensive squadron histories.

The McDonnell F3H Demon is probably the least remembered modern Naval fighter, even though it was the first true all-weather missile fighter. When the weather prevented the agile F8U, F4D and F11F from flying, the Demon could still be launched.

The Chance Vought F7U Cutlass was the most radical fighter design ever to achieve fleet service. The bold design of the Cutlass gave the Navy a pioneer airframe which was to test and develop many systems that are still in use today.

The photos in this edition are black and white. First published in 1981, the book covers the Navy's first jet aircraft to operate from a carrier, the McDonnell FD-1/FH-1 Phantom. The underpowered twin jet fighter would prove, along with North American's FJ-1, the feasibility of operating jets from carriers. It was operated by VF-17A/VF-171, VF-172, VMF-122 and the "Flying Leathernecks" demonstration team as well as the reserves. 48 photos, 6 illustrations and 21 profiles are included.

The PB2Y Coronado was a large flying boat patrol bomber designed by Consolidated Aircraft. After deliveries of the PBY Catalina, also a Consolidated aircraft, began in 1935, the United States Navy began planning for the next generation of patrol bombers.

In early 1937, Curtiss and Vought, the Navy's two pre-war suppliers of fleet catapult scout floatplanes, were asked to submit bids for a high-speed replacement of the very successful SOC Seagull series.

History of Grumman's last piston-engined carrier-capable fighter. Intended as a small high performance replacement for the FM2s operating from escort carriers, the Bearcat missed combat in WWII but served well with the US Navy until 1955. Covers the origins, development, variants and service history and includes detail photos and diagrams well describing the airframe and equipment, inside and out; 216 pages.

In 1960, both the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy were developing requirements for new fighters. The Air Force was planning to replace the F-105 with a long-range, low-level supersonic, all-weather Tactical Strike Fighter to be operated from unpaved runways of 3,000 feet or less in length and capable to transatlantic ferry without refueling. The Navy needed an all-weather, carrier-based Fleet Defense Fighter with a big radar and six long-range air-to-air missiles. In 1961, these similar "Fighter" requirements were merged by the Secretary of Defense into one program, TFX, to save development costs and operating costs.